Markdown to Jira converter
Updated
Paste standard markdown and get Jira wiki markup for issue descriptions and comments: ## Title becomes h2. Title, **bold** becomes *bold*, fenced code becomes {code:lang}, tables use ||header|| rows, and nested lists use ** and *#. Anything approximated is listed under the output. Runs in your browser.
No approximations: every element has a direct equivalent.
430 characters of markdown → 0 characters of Jira wiki markup. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How does each markdown element map to Jira wiki markup?
The table is the rule set the converter applies, checked against Atlassian's Text formatting notation help. The complete notation, including panels, colors and citations, is on the Jira markdown cheat sheet.
| Element | Markdown | Jira wiki markup | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heading | # Title … ###### Title | h1. Title … h6. Title | All six levels exist. |
| Bold | **bold** or __bold__ | *bold* | Single asterisks. |
| Italic | *italic* or _italic_ | _italic_ | Underscores. |
| Strikethrough | ~~gone~~ | -gone- | Hyphens ("deleted" in Jira terms). |
| Inline code | `code` | {{code}} | Monospaced. |
| Code block with language | ```js
code
``` | {code:javascript}
code
{code} | Aliases mapped (js → javascript, sh → bash, yml → yaml). |
| Code block, no language | ```
code
``` | {noformat}
code
{noformat} | Preformatted, no highlighting. |
| Code block, unknown language | ```brainfuck
+
``` | {code}
+
{code} | Reported in the warnings. |
| Link | [text](https://u) | [text|https://u] | Bare URL: [https://u]. |
| Image |  | !https://i.png! | Alt text is dropped (reported). |
| Bulleted list | - item
- nested | * item
** nested | Marker repeated per level, no indent. |
| Numbered list | 1. item
1. nested | # item
## nested | Hashes. |
| Mixed nesting | - item
1. nested | * item
*# nested | Outer marker then inner. |
| Task item | - [x] done | * [x] done | Checkbox kept as text. |
| Blockquote | > quote | {quote}
quote
{quote} | bq. also works for one paragraph. |
| Table | | a | b |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | | ||a||b||
|1|2| | Double pipes mark header cells; pipes inside cells become ¦. |
| Horizontal rule | --- | ---- | Four hyphens on their own line. |
| Line break | two trailing spaces | \\ | Two backslashes. |
| Literal { and [ | a {b} [c] | a \{b} \[c] | Escaped so Jira does not read a macro or link. |
Where does Jira wiki markup apply?
The classic description and comment fields of Jira issues (Server, Data Center, and Jira Cloud fields that use the wiki renderer), the REST API v2 description and comment bodies, and Confluence pages inserted through the wiki markup editor. The Jira Cloud rich-text editor stores Atlassian Document Format instead, but it still accepts pasted wiki markup in most fields and converts it on save.
Which markdown features have no Jira equivalent?
Image alt text, footnotes, reference-style links, pipes inside table cells, and HTML (the {html} macro is disabled on most sites). Each is rewritten in the closest form and reported with its line number. The same document for other targets: Slack, Discord and plain text. Why the dialects differ is covered in markdown flavors; the standard syntax is on the markdown cheat sheet.
Does Jira accept markdown?
Jira Cloud's editor auto-formats a few markdown shortcuts as you type (## for a heading, ** for bold, ``` for a code block), but pasted or API-submitted text in the classic description and comment fields is interpreted as Jira wiki markup, a different notation. Converting the whole document avoids a mix of literal asterisks and half-applied formatting.
How do I write a code block in Jira?
Wrap it in {code:language} … {code}, for example {code:python}. Jira's notation help lists the highlighted languages (Java is the default); a fenced block without a language is written as {noformat} … {noformat}, which is preformatted text with no highlighting.
How are nested lists written in Jira wiki markup?
Repeat the marker for each level with no indentation: * for a bullet, ** for a nested bullet, # for a numbered item, ## for a nested numbered item. Mixed nesting combines markers, so a numbered item under a bullet is *#. Blank lines between items can break a list, so the converter keeps items on consecutive lines.
How do I make a table in Jira?
Header cells are separated by double pipes (||Name||Status||) and body cells by single pipes (|Login|Done|). There is no escape for a pipe inside a cell, so the converter replaces it with a broken-bar character and reports the change.
Why is strikethrough -text- and not ~~text~~?
In Jira wiki markup hyphens mark deleted text, while tildes mark subscript (~sub~) and carets superscript (^sup^). The converter writes ~~text~~ as -text-; the standard mapping is in the table above.